Legislative Advocacy

As New England's foremost legal organization working on matters of LGBT civil rights and the rights of people with HIV, GLAD's unique legal expertise is indispensable to legislative efforts and other matters of public policy.

HB 7006 would modernize Connecticut's standard for correcting birth certificates issued to transgender people who are born in Connecticut. The bill would revise Connecticut law to reflect the contemporary medical standard of care for transgender people and make it possible for transgender people to have documentation that recognized their lived experiences and that diminishes their exposure to discrimination, harassment, and violence.

Excerpts from Levi's testimony:

"It is important for a transgender person’s emotional well-being that everything in their life aligns with their chosen name and gender identity.In addition, transgender people still face serious discrimination in their lives, and a mismatch between a person’s gender identity and the sex listed on an identification document can result in “outing” the person and increasing the chances that the person will be discriminated against or be subjected to harassment or violence. Not having documentation that matches a person’s gender identity can lead to discrimination in housing, education, and employment, and increases the risk that a person may be reliant on government support for basic subsistence. Also, in this age of increased security, a gender mismatch on an identification document makes every day experiences more challenging.

The current standard for correcting gender designations on birth certificates [in Connecticut] is outdated and not supported by contemporary medical views... The proposed amendment would bring Connecticut in line with 7 other jurisdictions and several federal agencies who have modernized their birth certificates standards. Included among them are the states of Rhode Island, New York, Oregon, Washington, Vermont, California, as well as the District of Columbia. Federal agencies that revised their standards include the State Department, Veterans Administration, Social Security Administration, Office of Personnel and Management, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Connecticut’s Registry of Motor Vehicles also allows transgender people to change the gender designation on their driver’s licenses with no requirement for surgery."